For her entire life, Director of Faith Programs & Campus Ministry and Religious Studies teacher Ms. Sarah Maher has been an avid Minnesota Twins baseball fan. Thanks to the influence of her family — especially her grandma — and growing up in the Twin Cities, Ms. Maher has closely followed the Minnesota Twins since she was young.
During her childhood, Ms. Maher remembers going to a couple of Twins games each year at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. “On … Tuesday nights, you could honestly go for a $3 game and a $1 hotdog,” Ms. Maher said. “We would do that a lot.”
Ms. Maher was able to continue going to Twins games after high school as she went to college in Winona, Minnesota — just a few hours drive from Minnesota’s Metrodome. “It was humongous and cheap and there were always tickets available,” Ms. Maher said about the Metrodome.
Ms. Maher specifically remembers the Twins’ World Series win in 1987 and 1991. Although she never went to any of those playoff games in person, she recalls hearing stories about what it was like in the Metrodome — for example, how they would open up certain doors in the stadium to increase airflow toward the outfield to create more home run opportunities.
In all her time as a fan, Ms. Maher’s favorite player to ever suit up in the Twins uniform was six-time all star Joe Mauer, who grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and played for the Twins from 2004 to 2018. The Twins’ current center fielder, Byron Buxton, reminds Ms. Maher of Mauer. Both Buxton and Mauer are pivotal to their team’s success, and the squad really struggles if they are injured and can’t play.
Last season, the Minnesota Twins made some noise by advancing to the American League Division Series. Even though they lost in four games to the Houston Astros, they were still one of only eight teams remaining in the MLB’s postseason.
When the Twins were in the playoffs last year, Ms. Maher watched every game she could, and her children even took an interest in the squad.
“Last year during the playoffs they did want to watch it, and they got interested in the rules, and so it was talking to them about what was happening,” Ms. Maher said. “They were pretty intrigued.”
The Twins last playoff visit made Ms. Maher’s kids even more invested in the team, including the chance to learn about the Twins theme song. They may take a visit up north in late June to catch some of the three game series between the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners, which would be her kids’ first ever in-person Twins game.
At this point in the current season, the Minnesota Twins sit at 23-16, holding the last wild card spot over the Seattle Mariners by two games. “We had a rough start, but all of a sudden we’re above 0.500 and chasing Cleveland,” Ms. Maher said.
Ms. Maher is hopeful that the Twins will remain in position to hold the wild card, but also recognizes that there is still time in the season to fall out of the playoff picture as the year progresses.
“It could be a similar season like last year where we actually make the playoffs and then we’re not even comparable to the other teams,” Ms. Maher said. “But we’ll see, it is pretty early.”
During Ms. Maher’s time as a Twins fan, she noticed some similarities between their fans and a Portland fan base. “Our love for the Blazers is very similar to Minnesota’s love for the Twins,” Ms. Maher said. The main parallel she noticed was that each city rallies around their franchise and players year in and year out.
Over the years, the team has had its ups and downs, but Ms. Maher has continued to be a fan of her childhood team.
